United Federation of Europe (World of Tomorrow)
The United Federation of Europe (European Federation or EF) was a superpower formed out of the European union in 2052. The EU had evolved into a far more unified Parliamentary-Presidential Federation (or PAR-PRE-F as it is often shortened to), with a unified military, police force and foreign policy. It was one of the most populous nations in the world, with the largest economy, and rivalled Canada and Sinosiberia in military, space technology, social welfare and political power. It was subdivided into a number of "Republics" and "Provinces", holding separate elections for each level of government. The system of government was so successful that Canada adopted an almost unaltered version of it in 2089. =History and situation at specific points in time= The United Federation of Europe had a short but complicated history. It developed out of a large number of nations, some with bitter competition going back hundreds of years, cooperating to create one of the greatest nations the world had know. The "Formation Years", 1950s-2000s In the Aftermath of World War II several of the countries in western Europe wanted to secure peace, work together and help one another's economies. To this end the Nations of West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg created the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952. In 1957 the Treaty of Rome was signed. The six member states transformed the "European Coal and Steel Community into the European Economic Community. This treaty changed the focus from coal and steel onto general trade, political cooperation and the development of nuclear energy. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Greece later joined in 1981, with Spain and Portugal following in 1986. Then in 1990 East Germany joined (also merging with West Germany). The Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985, opening borders between all member states, both at the time of signing and for future members (although Britain and Ireland had a special opt-out clause). With this agreement EU citizens could move freely between member states without passport control or visas. In 1992, with the Treaty of Maastricht the European Economic Community was absorbed into the new European Union. Now the member countries would work together not only in politics and economics, but also in money (later the Euro), justice, and foreign affairs. In 1995 the EU was enlarged yet again, with the addition of Austria, Finland and Sweden. In 2004 the EU faced it's largest enlargement to date, 10 new countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) became members of the EU in 2004 and Bulgaria and Romania became members in 2007. The "Integration Years", 2000s-2050s Overview The "Integration Years" are often said to have started with the Lisbon treaty of the 1st of December, 2009. It was notable as the period where Europe developed into a true Superpower and single state, as well as the rapid emergence of a new European identity. For much of this period many of the member states swung wildly in their support for further integration. The most notable was the United Kingdom which, under a continuous string of governments both delayed and sped up the process, ultimately hosting the Treaty of London that formed the UFE. Military The European Military was formed following the Treaty of Warsaw in 2028, and had reached full strength by 2033. The force was originally based on the EU Battle-group concept, and was intended to offer a powerful rapid reaction force that could operate anywhere in the world. It would be able to lead EU forces in defence of the Union, in a peace keeping role, in power projection. The forces first major role was anti-piracy in the south china sea, along side the PLAN. Navy Upon formation the Navy was effectively a single (but very large) carrier battle group. It was built around its aircraft carrier and all other ships were intended to support it primarily, with the exception of the two amphibious assault ships. Crew Levels were kept low by heavy automation. As with the other branches English language capability was necessary for service with the Navy. Upon creation the force was made up as so; *One Modified Queen Elisabeth class aircraft carrier, EMS Europa. The centre piece of the European Navy the Europa was a modified version of the UK's Queen Elisabeth class, with modifications including a vertical missile launch system (at the demand of the French) and the inclusion of electromagnetic catapults, arrestor wires and an angled flight deck in order to operate navalised Eurofighter Typhoons. Air Group, 33 Eurofighters, 2 Airborne early warning craft and 5 Merlin helicopters. *Two Minstal Class Amphibious assault ships, EMS Ouragan and EMS Orage. *Six Horrison Class Destroyers, EMS Sentinel, EMS Watchdog, EMS Protector, EMS Guard, EMS Defender. *Ten FREMM Class Frigates, EMS Hunter, EMS Predator, EMS *Twenty However over time more fleets were added as most of the larger nations scaled down their navies and smaller nations even gave up their independent navies altogether. By 2052 the Navy had grown to 4 fleets with equivalent strength to the original, and a number of other support ships. Air force The Air force was composed of 50 Eurofighter Typhoons upon creation and over 100 helicopters and transport planes. There was no Fleet air arm, or army air corps as both roles were undertaken by the Air-force. Of it's 50 fighters 35 were navalised and at least 25 were aboard the EMS Europa in normal operations. It also operated a large number of Eurocopter attack Helicopters intended to support the ground troops. The "Defining Years", 2050s-2100s Overview Following the Treaty of London in 2052 the newly formed European Federation entered a period commonly noted as defining the future face of Europe. The rapid changes lulled and Europe settled into the solid state that would define its reputation. By now Europe had become one of the "Big Three" super powers, alongside Sinosiberia and Canada. Europe was commonly labelled the most powerful nation due primarily to the political influence it had over the two other powers and its favourable relations with most of the world's powers. Europe had strong relations with both Sinosiberia and Canada but due to the "Cool War" had to tread a fine line between the two. Many historians believe that it was thanks to Europe that the "Cool War" never developed into a real Cold war or even total war. It cooperates with Canada in the Mars teraforming project but triads primarily with Sinosiberia. =Government and Politics= The UFE is a democratic federal nation. The President is the Head of state, while their counterpart, the prime minister, is head of government. The European Parliament is the one of the few to still have a large number of powerful political parties (in Canada the majority of politicians are independents, while Sinosiberia is effectively a loose one-party state, formed from democratically chosen representatives). The Electoral system is a form of the Additional Member System with the constituency MPs being chosen by Single Transferable vote. Ideology in Europe is primarily divided between centre, and left wing politics. The most represented party in Parliament, the European Socialists (a centre-left party), has consistently had around 40% of the vote since the Creation of the Federation. There is a growing shift towards the left in Europe, as technology is making resources increasingly available and only those on the fringes of society are forced to work for a living. In the central belt (The British, Scandinavian and Arctic isles, and north Russia) working out of necessity is almost an alien concept, and support for state controlled, free services is practically universal. Constitution The European constitution was officially adopted following the Treaty of London, and is strongly influenced by the Lisbon treaty of 2009. It primarily outlines the freedoms and rights that all citizens hold. Many of these freedoms where added specificity to prevent the loses of freedoms endured in many western nations in the early 21st century due to the terrorist threat. Rights *Right 1: The United Nations Universal Deceleration of Human rights is legally binding. However all rights not specificity stated are subject to change in future UN Decelerations. *Right 2: The Right to Freedom of Speech *Right 3: The Right to Equality *Right 4: The Right to a basic standard of living that is always available. This standard is to be defined by the Parliament subject to the times. However, it can never drop below the original standard as defined in the Treaty of London (2052). *Right 5: The Right to refuse Military service on moral grounds. *Right 6: The Right to fair working conditions and pay, and thus the right to form trade unions. *Right 7: The Right to privacy in one's home (be it rented, loaned, privately owned or otherwise) *Right 8: The Right to Education *Right 9: The Right to Healthcare *Right 10: The Right to a personal home, and space within if said home is shared. *Right 11: The Right to Leisure. *Right 12: The Right to Safety *Right 13: The Right to Serve in public office, if fairly elected. *Right 14: The Right to a Job if so desired. Conditions *Condition 1: The government cannot impose legal restrictions biased on age, gender, race, etc. This includes Voting rights, media, alcohol consumption, gambling, etc. All censorship or restrictions is to be on a personal case by case biases. Category:World of Tomorrow Category:Europe